Pakistan welcomes Indian Sikh pilgrims in first crossing since May conflict

The first major crossing between Pakistan’s nuclear-armed neighbors since their deadly conflict in May has been completed with Pakistan’s welcome of Sikh pilgrims from India.

The decision, which was in line with efforts to promote “interreligious and intercultural harmony and understanding,” was announced by Pakistan’s high commission in New Delhi last week, coincided with the granting of visas to more than 2,100 pilgrims to attend a 10-day festival marking the 556 years since the birth of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith.

More than 70 people were killed in the worst fighting between Islamabad and New Delhi since 1999 in May. Following the violence, traffic was restricted to general traffic at the Wagah-Attari border, which is the only active land crossing between the two nations.

The pilgrims will visit other sacred sites in Pakistan, including Kartarpur, where the guru is buried, on Wednesday. They will gather at Nankana Sahib, where Guru Nanak was born west of Lahore.

Since the conflict, the visa-free Kartarpur Corridor, which was inaugurated in 2019, has been closed to Indian Sikhs.

After New Delhi claimed Islamabad was supporting a deadly attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir, Pakistan refuted all these claims, the conflict broke out in May.

In Punjab, a region that includes parts of modern-day India and Pakistan, was founded in the 15th century as a monotheistic religion. Some of the Sikhs’ most revered places of worship are in Pakistan, despite the partition of India’s majority.